Ask your AMA Guide questions to Dr. Chris Brigham. Christopher R. Brigham, MD is recognized as the nation's leading expert, author, and trainer on the Guides (www.impairment.com). We have expanded this category to include other rating questions under both new and old schedules.

I intended to respond to your post, but forgot and since then have overlooked it. Sorry 'bout that!

The current Table 14 in the Workers' Compensation Laws of California by Matthew Bender/LexisNexus will not give you all the info you need since it only gives max/min wages for life pension purposes back to 7-1-94.

The formula, however, is correct: (PD - 60) x 0.015 x earnings = LP

The problem is the max/min earnings for 1987 are no longer listed. I was running out of space on the page and so I deleted that line.

Referring back to the 1995 edition, and probably several after it, we have

It has always seemed ridiculous to me only $2.69 separated maximum from minimum L.P. earnings for over 10 years! I have only seen 2 - 3 claims which fell somewhere inbetween. Most adjusters just automaticallu used $107.69.

You got $53.48 LP, so dividing that by 0.3825 means you must have used an AWW of $139.82

This is an example of why it is important to save old "Labor Code Books!"

Actually, the max/min PD rate can be pulled from earlier L.C. Sections 4453 and 4659, but they are very convoluted and difficult to follow. I found this out the hard way when I set out in 1994 to revise Table 14.

FWIF Lexis has a sale on through 10/31/09 on all of the "Labor Code Books" from 1988 to date on a CD-Rom. A link is below...and no, I don't make a cent on the sale of any Lexis product. I'm strictly on an annual contract for the Tables & Schedules...have been since 1991.